“We applaud the announcement of Patrick Henning Jr to be the Employment Development Department’s (EDD) new director. EDD is in real crisis and needs strong leadership to guarantee that our unemployment and disability insurance programs, our workforce development programs, and our tax collection programs operate effectively for both workers and employers. Henning’s long track record of supporting workers is a testament to the kind of leadership he will bring to the EDD.

“This appointment is the latest sign from Governor Brown that fixing our unemployment insurance system is a top priority. We are very pleased with Henning’s appointment and look forward to a productive partnership in guaranteeing that California workers get the services they need and deserve."

Lybarger, Leader of AFSCME 3299, to Serve as Labor Federation President

SACRAMENTO – The Chief Officer of the California Labor Federation -- Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski -- announced today the election of AFSCME Local 3299 leader Kathryn Lybarger to President of the California Labor Federation. Lybarger succeeds Connie Leyva, who left her post with the Labor Federation following her election to the State Senate. Lybarger was elected by the Federation’s Executive Council this morning.

“Kathryn has proven time and again that she’s a tenacious advocate for the core ideals of California’s labor movement,” said Pulaski. “As a rank-and-file union member who rose to lead the largest union of University of California workers in the state, Kathryn epitomizes the values that guide our activism each and every day in support of all California workers. Her passion and commitment to advancing equality and social justice strengthens our movement, and we’re proud to have her join the Federation’s leadership team in this role.”

A Lead Gardener at UC Berkeley, Lybarger was elected President of AFSCME Local 3299 in 2011, and re-elected in 2014. As Local 3299’s President, she’s grown the union’s membership by 45%, secured historic new contracts for the University of California’s 22,000 Service and Patient Care workers, and helped lead the effort to secure additional state funds for higher education through 2012’s Proposition 30. She also serves as an International Vice President for the 1.6 million member American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and was elected to the California Labor Federation’s Executive Council in 2012.

“I am honored by the opportunity to help lead the Federation’s efforts to promote justice, stronger communities, and more ladders into the middle class,” said Lybarger. “While we’ve come a long way, it’s clear that we still have big challenges in front of us—empowering more workers to organize, rebuilding our infrastructure, restoring vital public services, and addressing the growing crisis facing California’s public colleges and universities. I am looking forward to working with Executive Secretary-Treasurer Pulaski, the Executive Council, affiliates and members in ensuring the voices and aspirations of working families continue to guide our activism and shape public policy.”

As President of the California Labor Federation, Lybarger will preside over meetings of the Federation’s executive council and conventions, and joins Federation chief officer Pulaski on the leadership team. Lybarger will continue to serve as President of AFSCME 3299.

"In California, we don't just talk about big ideas. We make them reality. With today's groundbreaking, California's job-creating high-speed rail project takes a giant leap forward, bringing along with it the promise and vision that's part of the fabric of our great state.

"In the short term, this groundbreaking means thousands of family supporting jobs for California workers. Over the long-term, high-speed rail will transform our state's transportation infrastructure, easing traffic, sustaining our environment and supporting communities and businesses along the route.

"Under Governor Brown's stewardship, California is once again leading the way. We're proud to stand with the governor today to support this crucial investment in our future and look forward to partnering with him every step of the way to ensure high-speed rail becomes a full reality."

“Working people in California made a strong statement last night in favor of candidates who support rebuilding our state’s middle class. Despite the red tide that washed away the hopes for economic progress in other areas of the country, California was different and may show some hope for the rest of the nation.

“In a low-turnout election, the union vote played a pivotal role in scores of tight races around the state. The countless hours, nights and weekends union volunteers put in on the phones and at the doors was a counterbalance to the avalanche of corporate money that flooded the airwaves. In total, thousands of workers contacted hundreds of thousands of voters about the stakes in this election. In many races, that personal contact was likely the difference.

“It was a good night for those candidates who stand with working families. Jerry Brown’s success was a reminder that California voters prefer leaders who put the interests of everyday workers ahead of Wall Street bankers. That's true of our sweep of statewide offices.

“Workers made re-electing Tom Torlakson as Superintendent of Public Instruction a top priority. Despite millions of dollars spent against him by Walmart heirs and out-of-state billionaires, Torlakson prevailed with strong support from working families. Pro-worker champions like Secretary of State-elect Alex Padilla and our new Controller Betty Yee are coming to Sacramento with the experience and values that will serve working people well. And we’re glad that labor-backed Prop. 1 and Prop. 47 passed handily. Workers also delivered on local ballot measures to raise wages, a key plank of economic justice.

“Elections are important, but the real progress happens afterward. We will call on all elected officials to focus on creating good jobs, raising wages, funding our schools and universities, protecting workers’ rights and advancing social justice.”

Labor’s Ground Game to Prove Pivotal in Key Races

Sacramento, CA – The California Labor Federation announced today the launch of a massive Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) effort in the final week before the election to secure victories for pro-worker candidates including Jerry Brown for Governor, Alex Padilla for Secretary of State, Betty Yee for Controller, and Tom Torlakson for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Thousands of union volunteers are hitting the streets and phones in the final week to interact directly with voters, communicating the stakes of this election for working people. This week’s mobilization caps the Labor Federation’s months-long voter contact program, which uses sophisticated voter-targeting technology alongside traditional, boots-on-the-ground campaigning to ensure workers have a voice on Election Day.

“Whether we’re teachers or firefighters, grocery clerks or bricklayers, working people need a seat at the table to ensure we can put food on the table for our families,” said Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the 2.1 million member California Labor Federation. “That seat at the table comes from voting. In the final GOTV push, Californians will hear directly from union volunteers about the importance of this election to our jobs, schools, families and future. With record income inequality stifling the American Dream for far too many, it’s more important than ever that workers make our voices heard on Election Day.”

With low turnout predicted for the general electorate, working people have a strong opportunity to make a key difference in many races up and down the ballot. In addition to the statewide constitutional races, volunteers are communicating on targeted State Senate, Assembly and Congressional races. Volunteers are also prioritizing local and state ballot measures that support working people, including Prop 1 and Prop 47.

“Some races on this ballot could be decided by just a handful of votes,” Pulaski said. “Our GOTV effort will ensure workers wake up Nov. 5 with a seat at the table, rather than finding our priorities on CEOs’ menus.”

California workers received a much-needed measure of protection tonight with Gov. Brown’s signature on a landmark bill to curtail abuses of subcontracted workers. AB 1897 is a historic new law that holds corporations accountable when workers hired using labor contractors are cheated out of wages or forced to work in unsafe conditions. By holding corporations jointly liable with subcontractors and staffing agencies, the governor closed a loophole in the law that many big companies were using to violate the basic rights of workers with impunity.

Labor laws have been slow to keep up with the recent explosion of the temporary workforce. Throughout the course of the year as AB 1897 was considered, scores of heartbreaking stories of worker abuse emerged. Large, extremely profitable companies like Taylor Farms and Walmart are abdicating their responsibility to protect those subcontracted employees who are doing the work of the business but are not treated with basic fairness. Under this new law, the practice of corporations ignoring labor violations committed against subcontracted workers won’t just be immoral, it will be illegal. Immigrant workers, who make up a large share of the subcontracted workforce, are especially vulnerable to exploitation. This law continues California’s national leadership on protecting the rights of immigrant workers.

The California labor movement applauds the governor and legislature for delivering on AB 1897, a historic law that should serve as a model for other states interested in protecting the fundamental rights of all workers, and supporting good, middle-class jobs that reduce income inequality.

Today, California made history. By signing AB 1522 (Gonzalez) to allow California workers the ability to earn three paid sick days per year, Gov. Brown reaffirmed our state’s role as a national leader in advancing the fundamental rights of working people. California is now just the second state in the country to require that workers are able to earn a few paid sick days per year. This law should spur national discussion on paid sick days, creating a path for the United States to join more than 130 other countries around the globe in providing this basic right to workers.
By signing this important bill into law, the Governor put an end to the cruel Hobson’s choice that more than 6.5 million workers face when deciding whether to go to work sick or lose wages that keep food on the table for their families. This law protects workers and consumers, and is vital to public health.

While this law is a historic step forward, California’s unions won’t rest until every single worker in our state receives equal access to paid sick days. Home care workers, like all workers, deserve the opportunity to earn paid sick days on the job. We’ll continue to fight for In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) workers to ensure that California treats all workers with fairness and dignity.

We applaud the California Legislature for leading the charge to protect temporary and subcontracted workers who are often most vulnerable to exploitation. By passing AB 1897, the Legislature sent a clear message to big corporations that use subcontracted labor: California won’t tolerate the violation of any worker’s basic rights. By holding corporations that use fly-by-night subcontractors and staffing agencies accountable for mistreatment of workers, AB 1897 addresses a growing problem in our economy that’s undermining the middle class and fueling a growing gap between the wealthy few and everyone else.

The movement to bring transparency and accountability to the subcontracted economy has gathered momentum over the last few months, as more and more temporary workers bravely step out of the shadows to tell their stories of abuses and demand safety and fairness in the workplace. Companies like Taylor Farms and Walmart are some of the most egregious violators of worker rights, taking advantage of the subcontracting model by shielding their businesses from responsibility to the very workers that make the business run.

In a subcontracted workplace, workers who are injured or have wages stolen from them are often left to wonder “Who’s the boss?” when employers and subcontractors point the finger at each other instead of respecting workers’ basic rights. By holding corporations and subcontractors jointly liable when wrongdoing occurs, temporary workers will have a new measure of protection on the job.

Now that the State Assembly and State Senate have demonstrated their support of temporary workers by passing AB 1897, we urge Governor Brown to use the power of his pen to make this landmark legislation California law.

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]]>A New Era: Hundreds of Retired Public Employees Elect New Presidenttag:calaborfed.org,2014:index.php/site/page/1.25752014-06-20T23:19:53Z2014-06-20T16:25:54ZKrista Collardkcollard@calaborfed.org

A New Era: Hundreds of Retired Public Employees Elect New President

Northern California Native – George Linn Elected

The Retired Public Employees’ Association of California (RPEA), a statewide association representing more than 30,000 members, announced today that George Linn, currently on the RPEA State Board, will become the President of RPEA.

“We are very pleased that George, an accomplished industry veteran, will lead us forward. His strong leadership, combined with his deep knowledge of public pensions and health benefits will ensure our continued success into the future,” said the RPEA Board in their election announcement.

Linn brings more than 20 years of public service to the role. His decades of experience took place in the city he still calls home: San Francisco.

Linn was the Director of Audit at the San Francisco Housing Authority, a CalPERS contract agency, for eight years. He then worked as the Chief Auditor and Audits Director for 12 years with the City and County of San Francisco. Linn has many years of experience as an elected board member, including a seat on a national board of directors for over 20 years, a private secondary school for eight years, and several other civic and private boards.

Most recently, Linn served for six years as the RPEA Director of Public Relations. In this position he meet with legislators, testified at CalPERS committee hearings and board meetings and edited the RPEA bi-monthly newsletter.

“I am delighted that RPEA members have selected George as my successor,” said Harvey Robinson, immediate past RPEA president. “Linn will lead RPEA with thoughtfulness, style and energy. I know that under his leadership, the core values of this organization will remain strong.”

RPEA members from across the state attended the bi-annual General Assembly in Los Angeles (June 16-20), where they elected George Linn as their new president.

"I believe in teamwork to accomplish goals,” said Linn. “RPEA is a recognized leader for thousands of retired public employees who dedicated their lives to making California a better place to live. Working together with informed leadership, we can ensure those who kept our state moving forward are afforded the retirement they deserve.”

When a temporary worker is cheated out of wages, forced to work injured or otherwise has her rights violated, there’s often little recourse. Many of those workers have been to the Capitol in recent weeks, telling their stories and advocating for change. Today, the California Assembly sent a strong message in support of temp workers by approving AB 1897, a bill that would hold employers accountable for the exploitation of temporary and subcontracted employees.

When large corporations like Walmart and Taylor Farms outsource work to fly-by-night subcontractors, they shouldn’t be off the hook when workers’ rights are abused. Yet, that’s precisely what’s happening all too often in our economy today. A vicious game is played with the rights of workers in which companies blame subcontractors, subcontractors blame corporations and workers are left holding the bag, wondering ‘Who’s the Boss?’ AB 1897 establishes joint liability between the corporation and contracting agency for serious labor violations like wage theft and unsafe working conditions.

With the temporary economy growing leaps and bounds, the Assembly’s action today puts California at the forefront of the national movement to protect these workers who are often vulnerable to exploitation. We urge the State Senate to add its voice in support of temporary workers by approving this measure and sending it to Governor Brown.

All California workers deserve the opportunity to earn a few paid sick days per year to care for themselves or family members when illness strikes. Today, we’re one step closer to that important goal.

We applaud the California Assembly for approving AB 1522, which would allow workers to earn three paid sick days per year after 90 days of employment. The landmark measure, authored by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, is a win-win for workers and businesses, providing much-needed peace of mind to more than 5 million Californians who currently have no paid sick days on the job.

No one should be forced to choose between going to work sick or putting food on the table for their families. Yet, that’s precisely the gut-wrenching choice millions of workers must make when an illness hits them or a member of their family. When people are forced to go to work sick, it puts workers and consumers at risk, especially in industries like retail and food service, which are some of the least likely to provide earned sick days. Responsible businesses recognize the benefits and are joining labor unions, worker and health care advocates and more than 85 percent of Californians in supporting paid sick days.

We strongly urge the California State Senate to follow suit by swiftly approving AB 1522 to provide desperately needed relief to millions of California workers.

(Oakland, CA) The chief officer of the 2.1 million member California Labor Federation and the President of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5, the union for grocery workers, have denounced the plans by President Obama to visit a Walmart in Mountain View on Friday, May 9.

Art Pulaski, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation said“It’s extremely disappointing that the President would choose to stand with Walmart, a primary driver of the income gap in America. The workers in the Walmart store that serves as a backdrop for tomorrow’s event are the faces of inequality. Walmart is the richest company in America, but refuses to pay its workers a living wage. This is the very inequality that President Obama has spoken eloquently against in the past. We urge the President to meet with those workers tomorrow in Mountain View, so he can see firsthand that real change needs to occur at Walmart.”

Ron Lind, President of the 28,000 member UFCW Local 5 noted that the president had made income inequality a keystone of his administration, including signing the Lilly Ledbetter Equal Pay Act. “President Obama has stated that income inequality is the defining issue of our time, what changed between then and now? The hypocrisy of him decrying income inequality and then meeting with the CEO of Walmart while real workers suffer the low wages and lack of medical benefits at the company is disturbing. The president has said over and over he is for working folks and for raising wages, this decision to meet with the Walmart CEO at the Mountain View store reduces his statements to mere rhetoric.”

Walmart workers, union members, environmentalists and community members will gather at the Mt. View Walmart (corner of El Camino & San Antonio in Mt. View) at 8AM in Friday, May 9 to protest the president’s decision to hold an event with the CEO of Walmart.

Sacramento, CA—Today, Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez joined working mothers, community leaders and labor leaders in a press conference announcing a statewide campaign to show wide support for the “Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act”, AB 1522 (Gonzalez), pending legislation that will grant all California workers at least three days of earned sick leave per year, following 90 days of employment.

The statewide campaign, titled “10,000 Mothers Strong—Paid Sick Days Now!” is supported by the California Labor Federation (AFL-CIO), and the California Work & Family Coalition, a project of Next Generation.

“As the dynamics of the modern family change, so does a mother’s ability to take care of sick children or her own self when she falls ill at the same time she’s trying to hold down her job,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego. “Our economy has moved to a place where families cannot rely on a stay-at-home parent in times of illness. As a state, California must adapt to the reality facing today’s working families.”

Approximately 5 million working Californians lack access to paid sick days. Working mothers are among the most likely to need paid sick days—women remain the primary caregivers for children, the elderly, and the disabled, and are more likely than fathers to need to stay home with a sick family member.

Despite these realities, mothers are less likely than fathers to have any paid time off. Many single working mothers report having to go to work ill or send their sick children to school or daycare because they don’t have paid sick days and cannot afford to lose pay or risk losing their jobs.

“As a single mother working at Taco Bell making only $8.05 and hour, it is really challenging to provide for my children, but I do the best I can,” said Andrina Garcia, a single mother of two small children who has worked at Taco Bell for over a year but doesn’t have access to a single paid sick day.

“Recently my mother got sick and I had to rush her to the hospital. Fortunately, it happened after my shift was over because otherwise I don’t know what I would done. Having a few sick days as a safety net --days that I’ve worked hard to earn-- could make a huge difference to me and my family.”

According to research, employed mothers of children with chronic conditions have fewer sick days than other employed mothers. In one study, 36 percent of mothers with children who had a chronic health condition lacked sick leave the entire time that they worked during the study period.

“For too long, millions of California workers have been forced to choose between going to work sick and losing out on wages that help put food on the table for our families,” said Connie Leyva, president of UFCW Local 1428 and the California Labor Federation. “With the launch of this campaign to pass AB 1522, working moms are mobilizing statewide to ensure that all workers have the security of knowing that if they get sick or need to care for an ill family member, they’ll have a few paid sick days to do so. And when working moms put energy and focus to something, we get it done.”

AB 1522 will provide critical support to millions of working Californians. Sick leave may be used to care for personal illness, to care for a sick family member, or as leave to allow domestic violence and sexual assault survivors time to recover.

“No one should lose their job or their income because of an illness they could not avoid or because of the need to care for a sick child,” said Ann O’Leary, vice president and director of the Children & Families program at Next Generation. “If California affirms this principle, it will have made history by providing a necessary protection to the largest workforce in the nation. It would also send a clear message to California’s working mothers that their contributions to society are valued, respected and supported.”

According to polls, 85 percent of Californians support paid sick days legislation. In San Francisco, city-wide paid sick days legislation enacted in 2007 has shown continued support, including from business owners. If AB 1522 passes, California would be the second state to pass such a law.

A research brief prepared by Next Generation and released today shows that only 61 percent of Americans working in the private sector receive paid sick leave. Those with greater access to paid sick leave tend to be full-time and high-wage workers; White, black, and Asian non-Hispanic workers are also more likely than Hispanic workers to have access.

]]>New Report: Outsourcing as Core Business Strategy Can Lead to Depressed Wages and Working Conditionstag:calaborfed.org,2014:index.php/site/page/1.25292014-05-07T22:12:02Z2014-05-13T17:41:03ZKrista Collardkcollard@calaborfed.org
New Report: Outsourcing as Core Business Strategy Can Lead to Depressed Wages and Working Conditions

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Businesses are increasingly relying on outsourcing and multi-layered subcontracting structures to fill jobs, which too often result in lower wages and dangerous working conditions, according to a new report by the National Employment Law Project.

The report, Who’s the Boss: Restoring Accountability for Labor Standards in Outsourced Work, finds that outsourcing is one of the central factors driving down wages and working conditions in the post-recession economy. The practice allows employers to evade labor laws, avoid payroll taxes, push costs onto workers, and shirk their responsibility to provide basic benefits. It also leaves workers in an ambiguous legal status with no clear path to hold their employers accountable for abuses like stolen wages.

The report comes on the same day as an assembly hearing on AB 1897, a bill authored by Assemblymember Roger Hernandez of West Covina, which provides broader protections for workers employed by labor contractors.

“California needs new protections to hold companies accountable when their labor suppliers violate workers’ rights,” Assemblymember Hernandez said. “This bill will protect California’s vulnerable temporary and contracted workers, as well as businesses that follow the law and earn their profits without cheating workers.”

In California, temporary workers face a 50 percent greater risk of being injured on the job than permanent employees. Temp workers who perform manual labor face even greater risks on the job. In 2009, for example, after two recycling workers lost fingers in the same machine, Soex West Textile Recycling told CalOSHA it could not be held responsible because it had no employees. The workers were employed by another entity, which also denied responsibility.

Arold Haro, from Tracy, California, was hired by a temporary firm to package pre-made salads for Taylor Farms, a subcontractor for McDonald’s and Walmart. “When we get hurt on the job or don’t receive our pay, the temp firm and the company point their fingers at each other and we pay the price,” Haro said.

The report charts several different outsourcing structures and examines nine industries dominated by outsourcing and franchising: custodial services; fast food; home care; food service; warehouse and logistics; agriculture; temporary staffing agencies; port trucking; and public contracting. Within each industry, NELP breaks down the number of workers and their demographic characteristics, the percentage of workers hired by subcontractors, their median wage and the reported incidences of stolen wages.

“Workers increasingly serve businesses that do not officially ‘employ’ the worker—a distinction that hampers organizing, erodes labor standards, and dilutes accountability,” said Catherine Ruckelshaus, general counsel with the National Employment Law Project and a co-author of the report. “Under existing law, a company that contracts out can be held responsible if a worker can prove joint-employer status. That requires litigation that is costly, slow, and is easily manipulated by companies that use contractors to shield themselves from liability.”

The findings show that outsourced workers’ wages suffered compared to their non-contracted peers, ranging from a 7 percent dip in janitorial wages, to 30 percent in port trucking, to 40 percent in agriculture. Food service workers’ wages fell by $6 an hour when compared to direct hires.

Outsourcing can also lead to widespread wage theft, as lead companies encourage low-bid contracting and squeeze lower-level businesses competing for work. In the fast-food industry, which employs a workforce of 3.8 million people, 89 percent of workers report wages stolen out of their paychecks. Among the nation’s two million home care workers, 82.7 percent reported not being paid overtime wages, and 90.4 percent reported not being paid for time they worked off the clock.

A recent study of low-wage workers in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles suggests that wage theft cost the average worker 15 percent of their weekly earnings. That means workers in industries with high rates of outsourcing lose $56.4 million each week as a result of labor violations. Taken on a national scale, these losses add up to a staggering amount of money taken away from working people, local businesses and state funds.

By withholding wages and benefits and shifting costs onto workers, companies that misclassify workers as independent contractors save up to 30 percent of their payroll costs, undermining competitors that treat their workers fairly and depressing standards for entire industries. Misclassifying workers also enables employers to illegally suppress their payroll-tax costs and workers’-compensation and unemployment-insurance premiums, exacting a steep toll on state and federal coffers. A 2009 report by the GAO, for example, estimated that worker misclassification cost federal revenue about $2.72 billion.

The National Employment Law Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts research and advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers. For more about NELP, visit www.nelp.org

The California Labor Federation is dedicated to promoting and defending the interests of working people and their families for the betterment of California’s communities.

"We applaud the Brown Administration on its significant new investment in improving customer service for laid off workers through the Unemployment Insurance (UI) program. The move is a solid step in the right direction.

"The program has suffered years of neglect and cutbacks at the federal level have severed an important lifeline for many workers who have lost a job through no fault of their own. Administration of our UI program is 100% federally funded. A do-nothing Congress has turned its back on those suffering the longest job loss in this recession. They’ve denied extended UI benefits, they’ve ignored pleas for investments in UI administration, and they’ve allowed state UI programs to wither away.

"This infusion of state funds represents California’s willingness to act in the face of congressional inaction. We applaud the commitment of the Administration and pledge to work in partnership to improve service to jobless workers."